James Dougwas Muir "Jay" Leno (/ˈwɛnoʊ/; born Apriw 28, 1950)[1] is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, and tewevision host. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became de host of NBC's The Tonight Show wif Jay Leno from 1992–2009. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime tawk show, titwed The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00pm ET, awso on NBC.

After The Jay Leno Show was cancewed in January 2010 amid a host controversy, Leno returned to host The Tonight Show wif Jay Leno on March 1, 2010.[2] He hosted his wast episode of The Tonight Show on February 6, 2014. That year, he was inducted into de Tewevision Haww of Fame.[3] Since 2014, Leno has hosted Jay Leno's Garage.

Starting in 1986, Leno was a reguwar substitute host for Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show. In 1992, he repwaced Carson as host[10] amid controversy wif David Letterman, who had been hosting Late Night wif David Letterman since 1982 (aired after The Tonight Show), and whom many—incwuding Carson himsewf—had expected to be Carson's successor. The story of dis turbuwent transition was water turned into a book and a movie. Leno continued to perform as a stand-up comedian droughout his tenure on The Tonight Show.

In 2004, Leno signed a contract extension wif NBC which wouwd keep him as host of The Tonight Show untiw 2009.[11] Later in 2004, Conan O'Brien signed a contract wif NBC under which O'Brien wouwd become de host of The Tonight Show in 2009, repwacing Leno at dat time.[12]

During de 2007–08 Writers Guiwd of America strike, Leno was accused of viowating WGA guidewines by writing his own monowogue for The Tonight Show. Whiwe NBC and Leno cwaim dere were private meetings wif de WGA where dere was a secret agreement awwowing dis, de WGA denied such a meeting.[13] Leno answered qwestions in front of de Writers Guiwd of America, West triaw committee in February 2009 and June 2009, and when de WGAW pubwished its wist of strike-breakers on August 11, 2009, Leno was not on de wist.[14][15]

Leno said in 2008 dat he was saving aww of his income from The Tonight Show and wiving sowewy off his income from stand-up comedy.[16]

On Apriw 23, 2009, Leno checked himsewf into a hospitaw wif an undiscwosed iwwness.[17] He was reweased de fowwowing day and returned to work on Monday, Apriw 27. The two subseqwentwy cancewed Tonight Show episodes for Apriw 23 and 24 were Leno's first in 17 years as host.[18][19] Initiawwy, de iwwness dat caused de absence was not discwosed, but water Leno towd Peopwe magazine it was for exhaustion, uh-hah-hah-hah.[19][20]

During de 2005 triaw of Michaew Jackson over awwegations of chiwd mowestation, Leno was one of a few cewebrities who appeared as a defense witness. In his testimony regarding a caww by de accuser, Leno testified dat he never cawwed de powice, dat no money was asked for, and dere was no coaching – but dat de cawws seemed unusuaw and scripted.[21]

Leno in 2006

As a resuwt, Leno was initiawwy not awwowed to teww jokes about Jackson or de case, which had been a fixture of The Tonight Show's opening monowogue in particuwar. But he and his show's writers used a wegaw woophowe by having Leno briefwy step aside whiwe stand-in comedians took de stage and towd jokes about de triaw. Stand-ins incwuded Roseanne Barr, Drew Carey, Brad Garrett, and Dennis Miwwer, among oders.[22] The gag order was chawwenged, and de court ruwed dat Leno couwd continue tewwing jokes about de triaw as wong as he did not discuss his testimony. Leno cewebrated by devoting an entire monowogue to Michaew Jackson jokes.

Because Leno's show continued to wead aww wate-night programming in de Niewsen ratings, de pending expiration of Leno's contract wed to specuwation about wheder he wouwd become a wate-night host for anoder network after his commitment to NBC expired.[23] Leno weft The Tonight Show on Friday, May 29, 2009,[24][25] and Conan O'Brien took over on June 1, 2009.

On December 8, 2008, it was reported dat Leno wouwd remain on NBC and move to a new hour-wong show at 10 p.m. Eastern Time (9 p.m. Centraw Time) five nights a week.[26] This show fowwowed a simiwar format to The Tonight Show, was fiwmed in de same studio faciwity and retained many of Leno's most popuwar segments. Late Night host Conan O'Brien was his successor on The Tonight Show.[27]

Jay Leno's new show, titwed The Jay Leno Show, debuted on September 14, 2009. It was announced at de Tewevision Critics Association summer press tour dat it wouwd feature one or two cewebrities, de occasionaw musicaw guest, and keep de popuwar "Headwines" segments, which wouwd air near de end of de show. First guests incwuded Jerry Seinfewd, Oprah Winfrey (via satewwite), and a short sit-down wif Kanye West discussing his controversy at de 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, which had occurred de night before.[28]

In deir new rowes, neider O'Brien nor Leno succeeded in dewivering de viewing audiences de network anticipated. On January 7, 2010, muwtipwe media outwets reported dat beginning March 1, 2010, Jay Leno wouwd move from his 10 p.m. weeknight time swot to 11:35 p.m., due to a combination of pressure from wocaw affiwiates whose newscasts were suffering, and bof Leno's and O'Brien's poor ratings.[29][30] Leno's show wouwd be shortened from an hour to 30 minutes. Aww NBC wate night programming wouwd be preempted by de 2010 Winter Owympics between February 15 and 26. This wouwd move The Tonight Show to 12:05 a.m., a post-midnight timeswot for de first time in its history. O'Brien's contract stipuwated dat NBC couwd move de show back to 12:05 a.m. widout penawty (a cwause put in primariwy to accommodate sports preemptions).[31]

On January 10, NBC confirmed dat dey wouwd move Jay Leno out of primetime as of February 12 and intended to move him to wate night as soon as possibwe.[32][33]TMZ reported dat O'Brien was given no advance notice of dis change, and dat NBC offered him two choices: an hour-wong 12:05am time swot, or de option to weave de network.[34] On January 12, O'Brien issued a press rewease dat stated he wouwd not continue wif Tonight if it moved to a 12:05 a.m. time swot,[35] saying, "I bewieve dat dewaying The Tonight Show into de next day to accommodate anoder comedy program wiww seriouswy damage what I consider to be de greatest franchise in de history of broadcasting. The Tonight Show at 12:05 simpwy isn't The Tonight Show."

On January 21, it was announced dat NBC had struck a deaw wif O'Brien, uh-hah-hah-hah. It was decided dat O'Brien wouwd weave The Tonight Show. The deaw was made dat O'Brien wouwd receive a $33 miwwion payout and dat his staff of awmost 200 wouwd receive $12 miwwion in de departure. O'Brien's finaw episode aired on Friday, January 22, 2010.[36][37][38] Leno returned as host of The Tonight Show fowwowing de 2010 Winter Owympics on March 1, 2010.

On Juwy 1, 2010, Variety reported dat totaw viewership for Jay Leno's Tonight Show had dropped from 5 miwwion to 4 miwwion for de second qwarter of 2010, compared to de same period in 2009. Awdough dis represented de wowest second-qwarter ratings for de show since 1992, Tonight was stiww de most-watched wate night program, ahead of ABC's Nightwine (3.7 miwwion) and Late Show wif David Letterman (3.3 miwwion).[39][40]

Leno has faced heated criticism and some negative pubwicity for his perceived rowe in de 2010 Tonight Show confwict.[52][53] Critics have pointed to a 2004 Tonight Show cwip, in which Leno said he wouwd awwow O'Brien to take over widout incident.[53][54] At de time, Leno stated he did not want O'Brien to weave for a competing network, adding, "I'ww be 59 when [de switch occurs], dat's five years from now. There's reawwy onwy one person who couwd have done dis into his 60s, and dat was Johnny Carson; I dink it's fair to say I'm no Johnny Carson, uh-hah-hah-hah."[54] Leno awso described The Tonight Show as a dynasty, saying, "You howd it and hand it off to de next person, uh-hah-hah-hah. And I don't want to see aww de fighting." At de end of de segment, he said, "Conan, it's yours! See you in five years, buddy!"[55]

Rosie O'Donneww was among O'Brien's most vocaw and vehement supporters,[56][57] cawwing Leno a "buwwy" and his actions "cwasswess and kind of career-defining".[58] Biww Zehme, de co-audor of Leno's autobiography Leading wif My Chin, towd de Los Angewes Times, "The ding Leno shouwd do is wawk, period. He's got everyding to wose in terms of pubwic popuwarity by going back. Peopwe wiww wook at him differentwy. He'ww be viewed as de bad guy."[59]

Howard Stern has awso been a harsh critic of Leno before and fowwowing his Tonight Show timeswot change announcement;[60] Stern appeared on Late Night wif Conan O'Brien in 2006, and towd O'Brien dat he fewt it was unwikewy dat Leno wouwd ever wiwwingwy give up The Tonight Show to anyone.[61] During de confwict, Stern made many negative remarks directed at Leno whiwe on de Late Show wif David Letterman.[62]

In addition to criticism about his handwing of de timeswot confwict, Leno has awso been criticized for de perceived change in de content of his monowogues from his previous stand-up materiaw. Actor and comedian Patton Oswawt was among de cewebrities who openwy voiced disappointment wif Leno, saying, "Comedians who don't wike Jay Leno now, and I'm one of dem, we're not wike, 'Jay Leno sucks'; it's dat we're so hurt and disappointed dat one of de best comedians of our generation, uh-hah-hah-hah... wiwwfuwwy has shut de switch off."[63]

Responding to de mounting criticism, Leno said dat NBC had assured him dat O'Brien was wiwwing to accept de proposed arrangement and dat dey wouwd not wet eider host out of his contract.[68] Leno awso said dat de situation was "aww business", and dat aww of de decisions were made by NBC.[68] He appeared on de January 28, 2010, episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show in an attempt to repair some of de damage done to his pubwic image.[69]

Leno has been married to Mavis Leno since 1980; de coupwe have no chiwdren, by mutuaw agreement.[76] In 1993, during his first season as host of The Tonight Show, Leno's moder died at de age of 82 and in de fowwowing year, his fader died at de age of 84.[77] Leno's owder broder Patrick Leno, a Vietnam veteran and graduate of Yawe Law Schoow, died in 2002 at de age of 62 as a resuwt of compwications from cancer.[78]

He is known for his prominent jaw, which has been described as mandibuwar prognadism.[79] In de book Leading wif My Chin, he stated dat he is aware of surgery dat couwd reset his mandibwe, but does not wish to endure a prowonged heawing period wif his jaws wired shut.

Leno has cwaimed dat he has not spent any of de money dat he earned from The Tonight Show. Instead, he wives off his money from his stand-up routines.[82][83] Leno reportedwy earned $32 miwwion in 2005.[84] In 2014, he received an HonoraryDoctor of Humane Letters degree from Emerson Cowwege where he awso dewivered de Commencement speech.[85]

In 2009, he donated $100,000 to a schowarship fund at Sawem State Cowwege (now Sawem State University) in honor of Lennie Sogowoff, who gave Leno his start at his jazz cwub, Lennie's-on-de-Turnpike.[88]

In August 2012, Leno auctioned his Fiat 500, which was sowd for $385,000 wif aww de proceeds going to a charity dat hewps wounded war veterans recover by providing dem wif temporary housing.[89]

Leno owns approximatewy 286 vehicwes (169 cars and 117 motorbikes).[94] He awso has a website and a TV program cawwed Jay Leno's Garage, which contains video cwips and photos of his car cowwection in detaiw, as weww as oder vehicwes of interest to him.[95] Leno's Garage Manager is Bernard Juchwi.[96] Among his cowwection are two Dobwe steam cars, a sedan and a roadster dat were owned by Howard Hughes, de fiff Duesenberg Modew X known to survive, and one of nine remaining 1963 Chryswer Turbine Cars. The cowwection awso incwudes dree antiqwe ewectric cars — de 1925 Baker Ewectric is his wife Mavis' favorite car.[97]

He has a reguwar cowumn in Popuwar Mechanics which showcases his car cowwection and gives advice about various automotive topics, incwuding restoration and uniqwe modews, such as his jet-powered motorcycwe and sowar-powered hybrid. Leno awso writes occasionaw "Motormouf" articwes for The Sunday Times,[98] reviewing high-end sports cars and giving his humorous take on motoring matters.

Leno opened his garage to Team Bondi, de company dat devewoped de criticawwy accwaimed 2011 video game L.A. Noire, which is set in Los Angewes in de wate-1940s. Leno's cowwection contains awmost one hundred cars from dis period, and awwowed de team to recreate deir images as accuratewy as possibwe.[99]

Hosting de 2014 Genesis Prize award ceremony in Jerusawem, Leno made jokes mocking den-President Barack Obama and den-Secretary of State John Kerry, accusing Obama of "trying to break" de U.S.'s rewationship wif Israew.[100]

In a 2015 interview wif The Jerusawem Post, Leno said, "I awways considered Israew as not onwy de onwy democracy in de Middwe East, I dink it’s de purest, because every Israewi voter seems to have his own powiticaw party."[101] He awso added about Israew's rewations wif oder Middwe East countries: "Israew is so efficient in defending itsewf and so good at it, dat to de rest of de worwd it wooks wike buwwying."[101]

^Seinfewd, Jerry. "Jay Leno: Comedy Is A Conceawed Weapon". Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee. Season 3. Episode 3. 5:59 minutes in, uh-hah-hah-hah. Ya know, Jay, when I met you in de 70's, and I used to come to your house every night (we'd awways hang out), you formed my whowe professionaw attitude as a young man, and I awways teww peopwe dat I wearned comedy from Jay.